Stachybotryotoxicosis

Stachybotryotoxicosis 

the poisoning of animals, including horses, cattle, sheep, and swine, caused by eating coarse vegetative fodder infected with the toxic fungus Stachybotrys alternans. The fungal toxins affect the central nervous system and the walls of blood vessels. Blood circulation and mineral metabolism become impaired, and nidi of tissue disintegration in the intestine develop. The infection rapidly spreads among the animals. The common symptoms of the disease for all animal species are elevated body temperature, loss of appetite, the formation of lip ulcers, and edematization. In horses there is also an excessive secretion of saliva and acute abdominal pain. Cattle develop nasal discharge and diarrhea mixed with blood. Swine develop hemorrhages and sometimes ulcers on the hairless parts of the skin. Diseased animals frequently die.

Treatment is effective only at the onset of the disease and includes the use of adsorbents, disinfectants, astringents, and antibiotics. Preventive measures include properly harvesting and storing coarse fodders, including hay and straw. Fodder infected with the fungus should be burned.

N. A. SPESIVTSEVA